Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, December 14, 2000
Faith MIt®!
The Southern Cross, Page 9
someone wrote it down! ik
(thank OSod
By Carole Norris Greene
Catholic News Service
"P —
J—Jiblical writings are not simply
the telling of an old, old story. If you
look close enough, you’ll find that they
help you to tell your own story right
now.
Let me share a story. Preserving it
didn’t require a deadline, like getting to
the cleaners before it closes, or buying
that last Christmas gift by Dec. 24. It,
like visiting my widowed aunts who’d
love my company, has been at the
mercy of my remembering.
My friend Anne Wesson of Baltimore
wasn’t prepared for her car breaking
down a few blocks from her home. With
only $4 in her purse, she uttered a desper
ate prayer for help, then looked for the
nearest pay-phone to call home and let
her teen-age son know why she was de
layed. Before reaching the phone, how
ever, a woman jumped in front of her and
began dialing her own call.
Anne said later that she decided not
to let it upset her. Mindful of the Lord
who walks with her, she said silently:
“Praise God. Lord, what are you up to
here!”
Anne regarded all things as being in
God’s control, even the bad which he
permits to underscore our helplessness
apart from him.
When the woman finished her call,
she apologized to Anne, explaining that
she had to catch her son before he left
the house. Expecting God’s help in her
own circumstance, Anne left no stone
unturned.
“Does your son work on cars?” Anne
asked.
“Why, yes, he does some tinkering,”
the woman responded, a bit surprised
at the question.
“Do you think he could take a look at
mine?” Anne continued. “It’s broken
down over there.”
“I can ask him.”
To Anne’s great delight, the gentle
man had the car running again within 20
minutes and graciously accepted her $4
as total payment due. Praise God indeed!
How different Anne’s story could have
turned out had she had a different atti
tude, allowed her pride to rule, argued
with the woman or not been receptive to
aid coming from an unlikely source.
To passersby on the street, nothing
extraordinary was happening that day.
They saw broken-down cars all the
time. To Anne, however, more was at
play. God was intervening in her story
because she asked him to. Actually,
Anne was the sort who fully expected
that God would aid her.
This Christmas season, the thing
that makes these lofty words — “Jesus,
the Lord of history” — take on personal
meaning is as simple of being aware
that “history” is, in fact, “his story,”
“her story” and “my story” too! Jesus
says that he desires to be involved in
the day-to-day activities of our fives. It
is our choice to invite him and to trust
that he will act.
When this article is published, I will
put a copy in Anne’s Christmas card
and tuck my copy in the back of my
Bible, another reminder of the God who
cares as much today as centuries ago
when he sent his Son into the world.
“And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart. Then
the shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all they had heard and
seen, just as it had been told to them”
(Luke 2:19-20).
Thank God somebody wrote it down!
(Greene is an associate editor for
Catholic News Service.)
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
In 20 words or less, make an
important statement about
who Jesus is for you.
“Jesus is my consoler when
I’m troubled, my companion
when I’m lonely and my
listener when I need to talk.” —
Betty Allen, Delphi, Ind.
“Jesus is my best friend!” —
Clark Z. Conway Jr., Evans
ville, Ind.
“Not left or right, conserva
tive or liberal; not centrist, not
far or near, yet all. Jesus is
ineffable.” — Leonard O’Nan,
Hendersonville, Ky.
“Jesus is a companion for fife
who promises forgiveness, his
Father’s love and asks that we
be faithful to him.” — Father
Joseph Cahill, North
Vassalboro, Maine
An upcoming edition asks: Do you
think of yourself as having a
vocation? Why, or why not? And what
makes your role in life a vocation? If
you would like to respond for possible
publication, please write: Faith Alive!
3211 Fourth St. N.E.,
Washington, D.C. 20017-
1100.
.Ancient (Christian hymn on the incarnation
By Father Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS
Catholic News Service
hen we reflect on the in
carnation, a few of us turn to the
introduction of the letter to the He
brews, which concludes with a
hymn. A hymn?
For the church, the 40s of the
first century was a creative time —
a time when Christians composed
beautiful, poetic hymns. The words
and expressions used in them to
describe Jesus as the incarnation of
God were found in the Psalms and
in poetic Scriptural passages.
Actually, we read Hebrews 1:1-6
as a second reading in the Christ
mas Mass “during the day” —
when we also read from the Pro
logue of John’s Gospel.
In the hymn at the conclusion
of the introduction to Hebrews,
we hear how — as the heir of all
things and as the creative instru
ment of God (1:2) — the Son of
God is the refulgence of God’s
glory, the very imprint of God’s be
ing, sustaining all creation by his
powerful word.
Like other early hymns, this
hymn refers to the whole life of
Jesus, beginning from his birth to
his glorification, paralleling very
closely the hymns in Colossians
1:15-20 and Philippians 2:6-11, as
well as the hymn in John’s Prologue
(1:1-5, 10-11, 14, 16).
After its introduction (1:1-4), the
first section of the Letter to the He
brews (1:5-2:18) is a homily based on
the Christological hymn, interpreting
the Old Testament, especially the
Psalms, through the lens of the Chris
tian faith. We could entitle the homily
“The Firstborn of God, Higher Than
the Angels.”
We will read only Hebrews 1:5-6 in
the liturgy of Christmas. But these
verses include Psalm 2:7, “You are my
son; this day I have begotten you,” and
2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be a father to
him, and he shall be a son to me,”
which are applied to the mystery of
the incarnation.
The reading will conclude with
Verse 6: “Again, when he leads the
firstborn into the world, he says: ‘Let
all the angels of God worship him’”
lna Nutshell
For John’s Gospel, the incarnation was a re-creation.
Who has not looked at a new baby without thinking of
humanity’s renewal and the promise of the future? At the
birth of Jesus we instinctively think of new hope.
At the heart of Christmas is a paradox: The helpless child is
also the one through whom the world was made and who
shows us God’s face.
(see Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalm 97:7).
In the Old Testament, the firstborn of
God was the Israelite people. In the
New Testament, Jesus was the first
born of God. Mary gave birth to her
he heavenly host with the
angel of the good news
praised God for the incar
nation of the Son of God with
a new hymn: ‘Glory to God in
the highest and on earth
peace to those on whom his
favor rests 1 ' 1 (ICuke 2:14).
son, the firstborn of God (see Luke
2:7).
When God leads his firstborn into
the world, we are told, “all the angels
of God” will worship him (Hebrews
1:6).
According to Luke, the heavenly
host with the angel of the good news
praised God for the incarnation of the
Son of God with a new hymn: “Glory
to God in the highest and on earth
peace to those on whom his favor
rests” (Luke 2:14).
(Father LaVerdiere, a Blessed Sac
rament priest, is a Scripture scholar
and senior editor of Emmanuel
magazine.)
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